King Abdullah has ordered a crackdown on manipulation of the Kingdom's booming stock market, insisting action should be taken if necessary against improper trading even by members of the royal family. In a message to Abdulrahman Al-Tuwaijri, Chairman of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the King said trading rules should be applied to everyone including royals, Alsharq Arabic daily reported, Monday. “With the current return of investors to the stock market, there has been a return of some violations that require investigation and accountability, requiring violators' cases to be looked at by the specialized legal authority,” the newspaper quoted the King as telling Al-Tuwaijri.King Abdullah also said some of the violations were being committed by members of the royal family, who had continued their actions despite warnings, putting them in a position to be investigated and even taken to court. The country's stock market has soared this year and trading turnover has increased several-fold because of strong economic growth on the back of high oil prices, hopes that authorities will open the market to direct foreign investment, and an influx of speculative money. The benchmark index is up 19 percent since the end of last year, though it pulled back 1.8 percent on Sunday and continued sliding on Monday. The market, which is the largest bourse in the Arab World, crashed in 2006, hurting tens of thousands of Saudis. The CMA subsequently imposed hefty fines on some violators of trading rules.
